Gravity
by Apologies.Ain't.My.Thing
Summary: When two individuals are drawn to one another, when that attraction is purely innate, those two individuals can't help it. They can't stop it, reduce the intensity of it or ignore it. Short little AU oneshot.


**AN: Hi :) I know i know. I have 3 other stories that I haven't updated in a looooong time. But I just had to post this idea of mine. Review please! It's a tiny little oneshot. **

**Gravity**

When two individuals are drawn to one another, when that attraction is purely innate, those two individuals can't help it. They can't stop it, reduce the intensity of it or ignore it. If they are forced to do that due to certain circumstances, then the immense pit that gives a fluttering feeling in the gut intensifies; or, perhaps the psychological need to avoid the other half increases, so that one can deal with that fluttering feeling. Needless to say, one action is often the cause of a previous action. Everything leads to the other. An individual's environment and thought processes all contribute to a certain action.

However, despite the innate attraction that was so damn obvious, despite all the fluttering feelings, both of us wanted different things. It was so obvious that he didn't love me only. Just because two individuals have a strong attraction doesn't mean that they can't be attracted to others at the same time. He was torn between me and another woman. A brunette, tall, slim, beautiful with thick shinning hair. Much unlike my sandy blonde rough locks. He's intelligent. But hormonal attraction usually overrules rationality. He was clouded by lust. I was intent on working cases until my eyes turned bloodshot from lack of sleep. He is an attorney, I am a detective. Both of us are relatively well known in our specific job areas. A conflict of interest led to us separating.

So why the hell am I doing this?

* * *

Certain people think I'm crazy. Well, I killed a man.

Pretty crazy.

Shikamaru doesn't think so. I don't think so. I think I killed a guilty man, one who was a rapist and murderer. Scratch that. I _know_ I killed a guilty man. There's a reason why Shikamaru flew into town just to defend me in the case. He knows I'm not guilty. And he's working to the bone to find evidence and prove my innocence.

There's nothing more to an old friend coming in to defend his friend in a law case.

Right?

I don't feel anything else except gratitude towards him.

Right?

* * *

There's a reason why Shikamaru is so well known. He's one of the most sought after attorneys in the region. He's taken corruption in the palm of his hand and crushed it into dust like sand falling through your fingers, the white grains trickling down into non existence. He's exposed ministers and officials for the corrupt bastards they are.

Shikamaru dug up evidence that proved my innocence. Apparently, the man I killed, was going to kill me if I hadn't pulled the trigger at the right moment. I mean, before I even took out my gun, he was holding one in my direction, his finger on the trigger with a nerve wracking, uncharacteristic cold smirk on his face. That wasn't normal.

No one believed me until I was defended by Shikamaru. The man is as brilliant, maybe even more so, than he was two years ago. He's now 25 and has the experience and repertoire that most 60 years old couldn't hope to have achieved. What goes on in his head, I will never understand. It's like all the neurons are constantly firing, strategizing, analysing every moment, every action. It's a deadly combination, law and psychology.

Of course, I will never be able to express my immense gratitude towards him for getting me a clean plate. Quite frankly speaking, if I served my full probable 10 year sentence, I wouldn't be hired as a cop after I got out. And without my job, I would be a nobody. I have no identity without my job. That is what my life has amounted to.

Friends don't fly over for reasons like that. There's a reason why Shikamaru flew over. It's because of gravity. We aren't friends. We're naturally bound by each other's gravity, we can't escape the other's gravitational field.

That's why, when he came over to my place with my favourite Indian Chinese fried rice and spring rolls as a celebration for winning my defence case, I invited him in.

When I heard a knock on my door and looked through the peephole to see him standing there, the fluttering in my stomach intensified, the pit became deeper and threatened to swallow me whole. When I saw my favourite take out in his hand, my heart did a double turn. And when I willed myself to take a glimpse at his light brown orbs, my heart skipped a beat and I hiccupped. I was always a sucker for his eyes. I invited him in to celebrate with me. He said he was going to the bar to get a drink. I told him to stay.

He said no.

Why? He has a huge case the next week, and needs to get back home. When he mentioned who he was testifying against, one of the most corrupt ministers in the parliament, I had the urge to high five him. And when his hand touched mine, and that jolt ran through me like it used to every time our hands touched when we were dating, I lost all my inhibitions. I tightened my grip on his fingers and held on. The best part? He didn't even try to let go. Instead, he wrapped his fingers around mine, the warmth sending tingles through me and giving me goose bumps. I made the mistake of staring into his eyes once more. When I did, I couldn't help but tell him how I felt about the experience.

The experience of being looked at by your colleagues in a different manner. With disgust and disrespect, and no consolation from anyone except your ex boyfriend? What type of a setting did I work in? How cut throat and stressful was it really? But despite all of that, despite all the looks and stares I was getting when standing trial, I realized one thing. The possibility of not being a cop frazzled my nerves and made me want to curl into a ball on the couch. Being a cop was my identity, my persona.

And as Shikamaru just stood there and listened, his brown eyes gazing into my teal ones, I realized one thing, I had to do something about the pathetic fact. My life had to go somewhere else as well.

So I kissed him. And he kissed back. He didn't stop me when I grabbed his shirt, his cologne overwhelming my senses and rushing to my head almost messing with my thoughts.

When we stopped to catch our breaths, he gently pushed me away and said, "_Temari_, if you give me another chance at this, I won't mess it up. Even though I want to just sweep you of your feet and throw you onto the bed, I won't. Because you're vulnerable. But if I get that second chance, I won't let you go."

He always knew how to get to me. He always knew how to mess with my head. Sometimes, I really hate him.


End file.
